Chapter 2
The weather was just starting to change as autumn overtook the heat of summer. For David, it was a perfect time: just warm enough to enjoy swimming and just cool enough to cuddle with his girlfriend Jennifer. He opened the trunk of his car and put his suitcase next to the sleeping bag, tent, and other camping supplies stored therein.
A final camping trip before it got too cold, a private celebration. David was accepted by the University of Pennsylvania to follow his psychological schooling. Chuckling, he remembered getting the letter. He had sat there, looking at the envelope for five minutes, terrified that he would be rejected once again. He feared his grades were not enough but he took a chance, and when he did get the courage to open the letter, he found his chance paid off.
After his parents divorced, things were difficult. But now, after years of hard work and determination, his life was looking up again: he was financially sound, getting into a good school, and…
He smiled as he opened a pocket of his backpack and pulled out a small black box. He gently flicked it open and looked over the engagement ring placed on the cushion inside. It was adored by three moonstones that each looked like a sky-blue nebula captured in smokey glass: A large circular one was flanked by two smaller stones on either side, one in a waxing moon shape and the other waning. It was a symbol of the triple moon goddess, the central figure of Jennifer’s religion. He smiled nervously, though pride welled inside of him that he bought it without financial help from his parents. Next to the engagement ring sat a wedding ring, made of white gold and inlaid with tiny diamonds mimicking stars, just like the engagement ring.
He had planned this weekend getaway to propose. Just the two of them camping on the lakeside, warmed by a campfire and each other under the moonlit sky.
“She’s going to love it,” the voice of David’s mother came from behind him. He jumped in shock.
“Damn it, Mom. I almost dropped it.” He quickly put the ring box back in his backpack.
Her compassionate brown eyes glistened with barely-contained tears as she tried to fight the urge to cry. “Wish you would propose in front of me. That girl makes you so happy, you just light up whenever you see her.”
“Yeah, she does. You know how camping by the lake is one of her favorite things, I really can’t think of a better place to ask her than by the lake,” David said and hugged his mother. “We will make sure to tell you all about it when we get back.”
She nodded and patted his shoulder. “You better get going, she’s waiting.” She flashed him a wink.
“Yes, Mom.” He shut the trunk and headed to the front of the car. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” She smiled, watching her son drive off. “And don’t make me wait too long to have grandkids!” she yelled.
Parking spaces all taken, David had no choice but to bring his car to double park next to the Cox's Suburban. He hopped out of his car and went inside the house, having long ago been told by his future mother-in-law that he was welcomed to come in and was considered family already.
The home of the Cox family was like most homes in the United States, the only sign it was home to practicing witches was the altar with the triple moon goddess symbols on its surface and the sweet-smelling incense in the air welcoming him once he stepped through the door. “Mrs. Cox, I’m here to pick up Jennifer,” David shouted.
“I told you before, David, call me Mama G, you are practically family.” Mrs. Gabriel Cox walked out of the kitchen. Her graying red hair hung in a long braid, swaying from side to side as she walked up to greet him. With her sparkling green eyes, many freckles, and that red hair, she could easily be a Weasley from the Harry Potter franchise. The only sign that this Wiccan was a real witch was the pentagram pendant hanging proudly on a cord around her neck. She leaned in close to David and whispered, “Can I see it?”
“Now dear, leave him alone.” Mr. Nathan Cox cleared his throat and trotted to them, his long blonde ponytail whipped up behind him. The tall man yanked David into a hug, a broad grin on his face. David gladly returned it. In many ways, Nathan filled the void in David’s heart his father left open.
Gabriel watched them for a moment with a tender smile before she leaned close to her husband’s shoulder and whispered, “You big softy, if you start crying, she might figure it out.”
Nathan chuckling and let go of David. “Ah, my dear, didn’t you say that you love me because I’m not afraid to show my emotions?” He waggled his eyebrows at her. She just rolled her eyes.
Gabriel then looked up and called out louder, “Jennifer, he’s here!”
“Almost ready!” came a voice from above. There was a loud crash. “Who put the lamp there?!” Together all three sighed and glanced at the ceiling.
“You alright, dear?” Gabriel asked.
“Stupid lamp! Yeah, Mom, just knocked my lamp over, it’s fine. Oh, I need a new light bulb,” Jennifer’s voice was heard just a mere heartbeat before she raced down the steps with her backpack in tow. “I'll take care of the light,” Nathan exclaimed, rushing downstairs to the storage room and secretly wiping away a few stray tears.
“David!” Jennifer’s bright green eyes widened and sparkled with joy upon seeing him. Ignoring her mother standing there, she dropped her bag and squeezed herself against David, delivering a passionate kiss. He gently embraced her soft sides and ran a hand through her strawberry blonde hair.
“Dear, no making out in front of your mother!” Gabriel’s voice was full of mischief, a grin on her face.
Breaking the kiss, Jennifer blushed. “Sorry, Mom, I’m just so excited.” She straightened up, adjusting her bright pink shirt with the image of Pinkie Pie on it.
“You’ll have plenty of time to fool around once you get to the campsite.”
“Mom!” Both David’s and Jennifer’s faces turned an even deeper shade of red.
“Don’t take me as a prude, I know very well you went and got new lingerie. Just make sure you use protection, I can wait for grandchildren,” Gabriel teased.
“Well, um... We need to hurry. I had to double park,” David said, flashing them an embarrassed grin.
“Of course I got protection,” Jennifer interjected. “You handed me the box of condoms yourself, Mom.”
For a moment David wondered if he could blush more. The red was now creeping down his chest.
“David, dear, you seem flushed. Perhaps you two should go get fresh air.” Gabriel smiled, her eyes twinkling.
“Alright. Take care, Mama G, bye Nathan.” David grabbed Jennifer’s backpack, noting that it was stuffed to the point the zipper was struggling to keep closed. Jennifer held the door open for him as he passed.
“Bye Mom, bye Dad!” she called before running outside after her boyfriend. “You're the one driving!” she exclaimed as she jumped into the car’s passenger front seat.
David just smiled and nodded as he threw her backpack next to his. He then settled into his seat and started the car.
“That’s odd both my parents watched us pull away,” Jennifer said as she turned around and caught a glimpse of her parents standing on the steps of their home.
“They most likely wanted to make sure we were driving away, your mother apparently had something mischievous on her mind.” He swallowed, hoping she bought his little excuse.
“Yeah, you’re right, that was probably why Mom was so excited. She thinks she can act cool, but I can tell.”
At that moment David thanked every god and goddess he could recall.
Jennifer was sitting with her backrest leaning all the way back, her bare feet sticking out the window and resting on the passenger side mirror. “Are we there yet?”
“Soon, Jennifer, just a few more miles till we are at the lake.”
“Good, because I want to go skinny dipping.”
It took all David’s willpower to not jerk the wheel when he heard her. “Um… sure, but you do know there will be other campers, right?”
“Well, they can look, but only you can touch, with permission.” She playfully moved her hands up her side to cup her breasts, a mischievous grin on her face as she did so.
“How did I fall in love with an extrovert exhibitionist sexy witch?”
“Because you're under my spell.” She pulled out her phone and after a few taps on the screen, the song ‘Under Our Spell’ started playing.
David's eyes spotted a red Ford Mustang coming up behind them in the rearview mirror. The other driver was going faster than the speed limit. The road was thin with two lanes separated by a double yellow line.
“Great, a moron is coming up behind us.” David shook his head as they approached a curve in the road. The Mustang came closer, speeding up and swerving into the left lane to pass.
David’s eyes shot forward when he heard a blaring horn and the front end of a semi-trailer truck came around the bend. Beads of sweat shimmered on his forehead. He slammed on the break. The Mustang pulled back into the right lane, hitting their Camry's front end. Jennifer screamed. David screamed. The rear of the Camry crossed the centerline right in front of the truck. In the next moment, the car was airborne, then gravity reinforced its law once more.
The car rolled. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times.
White.
David was sore all over as he came to.
He felt like he had run a marathon, entered an ironman competition, and then fought a heavyweight boxing match and lost. His thoughts were scrambled. He spoke out loud, trying to get his thoughts in order, “Ponyville, and a castle? Memories of the fight?” The pain of being hit by two blasts of magic ran across his mind.
Jolting to full alertness, he saw nothing but stars, more stars than he ever imagined. The sight of the swirling cosmos washed away the last shreds of the confusion in his mind. The closest thing he could compare this sight to were photos of the universe, and even those paled in comparison to this wonder.
Below him was a disk of glowing light. At first, he thought it was solid, then he saw the disk was thousands, no, billions of smaller points of light. It was as if he was lying on a disk of glowing dust. I must be still dreaming, he thought to himself.
His muscles felt like they were recovering from the worst cramps he ever experienced. He tried to pull himself up on his hands and knees, only to lose balance and smash his nose into that strange disk of light. “Fuck!” He moved his hand to his now bruised nose, yet something hard connected with his face.
What he saw instead of his hand was a hoof. A thick hoof black at the tip, gradually changing to blue where it met the fur covering the rest of his arm. Or, rather, a dark blue foreleg. “What the hell?!”
Turning his head in a way no human neck could, he saw an equine body with bat-like purplish-blue wings folded at its sides.
His sight then traveled to his mane and tail, and he gasped. They seemed to flow in a wind he couldn’t feel, the locks of gray and silver rippling like clouds in the light of a full moon. He felt the strands of hair of his mane dance over his foreleg. The only ponies he thought of that had ethereal manes… he didn’t finish the thought.
Reaching up to his forehead, he felt the base of a horn. His eyes widened. “I’m an alicorn?” he muttered as his gaze moved upward, and he saw a horn similar in color to onyx. Slowly this time, he maneuvered to stand on his hooves and looked down between his legs. “Good, still male. Just one identity crisis at a time, thank you.”
He shook his head. “Okay, focus. This is clearly still a dream, and you are a skilled lucid dreamer.” Taking a deep breath, he focused on clearing his mind of any remaining doubt. This was his dream, there was no other possibility. He was in charge. “Alright, first, this strange floor I’m standing on. I need something more stable. All these stars are making me seasick… Solid land. Focus, David!”
Grass grew under his hooves and spread out, then bushes and trees materialized into a lush garden. The plants of the garden shifted every time he looked at them. Some were changing as he watched, trees morphed and twisted. The garden was unstable, still a loose construct of his thoughts. The only tree that didn’t change was a large willow. Its trunk split a few feet above the ground, spreading into a canopy of delicate branches. Long, thin leaves hung down from the branches like a curtain of emeralds. The garden was just a few yards across, a green island in a sea of stars.
Now with some solid land under his hooves, the seasickness he felt ended. He sat down to enjoy the vastness of the stars. He smiled. “Well, that was a wild trip through my subconscious.
“Okay, I need to see what I look like. A mirror, no, better a mirror pool.” He motioned with his hoof, and the ground shifted, forming a bowl with a silvery bottom. Water just appeared within the confines of the bowl, a shimmering pool where before was only grass.
He tried to walk towards it, only to trip over his own hooves. He fell face-first into the water. “Agh… I better not wake up having peed myself.” He looked down at his reflection.
His reflection was indeed that of an alicorn bat pony. He noticed his body was realistic, just like the versions of Celestia and Luna he saw before. “I guess this is handsome for a horse,” he remarked.
He then inspected his flank and saw a cutie mark of a crescent moon with a thin cloud across it. “Oh great, I even have a butt tattoo.” He turned around, expecting Pinkie Pie to show up with some comment about a tramp stamp. Sadly that did not happen.
“Okay, time to transform out of this pony body...” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt his form shift as if silk flowed over his skin.
His eyes snapped open. He shot up, noting he was lying in his bed. “What the hell was that dream about…” he mumbled as he moved his hand in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. “It was bizarre even for a lucid dream.”
Reaching over to his nightstand, he took his trusty dream journal and a pen from within its drawer. He opened it and started scribbling down his memories. “I must have lost control, that’s the only explanation. That, and I made the stupid error of focusing on my body. Yeah, that’s why I woke up, though to be fair, I think I wanted to wake up.”
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10485205
Your wish is my command. Just a warning Chapters one and two were mostly complete when I got an Editor. Chapter three going to take more time to finish.
Great new chapter! But what happened to Jennifer?! Or was that a dream...?
10486264
Put what I told you together. The Ring box sitting on the bookshelf with MLP figures, his scar on his arm, his apartment clearly the living quarters of a single guy.
To put it simply she never saw the engagement ring she didn’t survive the crash.
10486268
Aww, nooo! Whhhhyyyy?!
10486273
That would be spoilers.
10486282
Oh...
10486284
There is a reason, the full payout for it would not be clear till the final.
I give you another clue. Notice that Pinkie Pie was interacting with him in the dream, and that Jennifer is a bit zany and had a Pinkie Pie T-Shirt on.
No that not Jennifer’s ghost. It just his subconscious.
10486292
Ooh
Looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!
I'm confused by this...
10487735
Please explain
10487743
The whole second chapter, really. Is he there or is he not? It seems like he's bouncing back from dream thing to human.
10487745
It’s a flashback scene that why I mentioned he being accepted to the college. In chapter 1 he was at the college already and the engagement ring was on the bookshelf.
There a few things in there I going to use later. The main reason is to explain why David uses lucid dreaming to escape reality.
I like and I'm definitely interested
Big oof. And there was nothing more he could have done...
Im a very confused reader... Didnt he kinda died?
So no juicy action 
Stange...
Nice chapter
Well the story will make up for it, im sure
Bryn Mawr is principally a womens' college, also having a mixed-sex graduate school, but this graduate school, so far as I can tell, does not include Psychology studies. Even though you did choose to let it be a 'just starting' thing, but this is set two+ years in the past… Whether it CAN work or not, since it probably doesn't really matter but is distracting to anyone familiar with the seven sisters, maybe change the institution to one where the first instinct is not disbelief?
10960124
You are the first to notice.
I didn’t know it was primarily a woman’s school. I chose a location that was pleasant to look at and in the general location I wanted the Earth part of the story to take place.
I’m familiar with Pennsylvania and it does boarder Lake Erie. That the lake where he was going to when the crash happened. It also where the cabin the Witches use is located.
I had wrote a few hints that the Earth,
David is from isn’t ours. Mostly how the witches talk about the fae. The psych course is one of those A.U. Hints.
However I am willing to change the school to somewhere else. Do you have any suggestions?
10960124
Finally changed the college I used the University of Pennsylvania this time.